OTTAWA -- A businessman told Canadian lawmakers that Prime Minister Brian Mulroney was in need of money when he allegedly paid him $300,000 on his way out of office.

Karlheinz Schrieber testified before the Commons ethics committee Thursday he was told by a lobbyist that Mulroney was in dire straits as he exited politics in 1993, and that he and Mulroney had discussed payments totaling $500,000.

The CanWest News Service said Friday that Schreiber also alleged that Mulroney had played him. Schrieber was lobbying for construction of a Nova Scotia armored vehicle plant that, it turned out, had been quietly killed before he and the prime minister started talking about money.

Schrieber has filed a lawsuit against Mulroney seeking to recover the money.